Gulf of Honduras

Gulf of Honduras
Bay of Honduras
golfo de Honduras (Spanish) bahía de Honduras (Spanish)
Gulf of Honduras shown centre-right
Location	northwestern Caribbean
Coordinates	16°09′05″N 88°15′06″W / 16.1514°N 88.2517°W / 16.1514; -88.2517
Type	Gulf
Etymology	las honduras (Spanish) / ie the depths
River sources	Belize Sibun Sittee Monkey Sarstoon Dulce Motagua Chamelecon Ulua
Primary outflows	Caribbean Sea
Basin countries	Belize Guatemala Honduras
Max. length	150 mi (240 km)
Max. width	105 mi (169 km)
Surface area	7,380 sq mi (19,100 km2)
Average depth	98 ft (30 m) / on continental shelf 6,600 ft (2,000 m) / off continental shelf
Settlements	Belize Dangriga Hopkins Placencia Punta Gorda Livingston Puerto Barrios Omoa Puerto Cortes Tela La Ceiba
References	Measurements for largest current demarcation[note 1]

The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km (125 miles) from Dangriga, Belize, to La Ceiba, Honduras.

The inner Gulf of Honduras is lined by the Belize Barrier Reef which forms the southern part of the 900 km (600 mile) long Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the second-largest coral reef system in the world. The Belize Barrier Reef includes a number of small islands, called cays, and collectively known as the Pelican Cays.^[1]

The Gulf of Honduras is marked by complex dynamics of coastal and open waters, and ocean currents, which have produced a very diverse and unique ecosystem with a wide variety of coastal marine waters, including coastline estuaries, barrier beaches, lagoons, intertidal salt marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, keys and barrier reefs.^[2]

The gulf receives the runoff from the watersheds of 12 rivers with an estimated discharge of 1,232,000 litres (approx. 300,000 gallons) per second.^[3]

Tourists are often taken on boat trips to the Pelican Cays, notably Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye.

In 1961 Hurricane Hattie swept across the Gulf of Honduras, destroying buildings in Belize.

The infamous pirate Blackbeard spent the winter of 1717–1718 harassing shipping boats sailing to and from the port of Vera Cruz, Mexico and traversing the Bay of Honduras.^[4] In April 1718, at Turneffe Atoll, Blackbeard captured the logwood cutting sloop Adventure and forced its captain, David Herriot, to join him. Blackbeard then made Israel Hands captain of the Adventure and began sailing for North Carolina.^[5]

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